3 Pacific Cyclones, A Hurricane off Africa: What's Going On?
The weather seems to be going haywire, with three simultaneous category 4 cyclones in the Pacific and what could be the easternmost hurricane to make landfall in the Atlantic.
Three cyclones—Kilo, Ignacio, and Jimena—are currently tearing it up in the central Pacific. On Sunday, all of them were a category 4. This is the first time the northeastern Pacific has seen three such hurricanes simultaneously.
A fourth storm, tropical depression fourteen-e, is currently churning away southwest of the Baja California peninsula. Forecasters expect it to strengthen to a tropical storm soon. They plan to name it Kevin at that point.
So why has the weather in the Pacific seemingly gone nuts? Two words: El Niño.
This atmospheric phenomenon occurs every five to seven years and brings soaking rains to the western U.S., droughts to Asia and Australia, and dampens the Atlantic hurricane season. (Read about El
